Favorite Meatloaf

I know what you're thinking...."ewww, mealoaf!!"  The name isn't exactly the most appetizing thing, but it's one of my favorite dinners.  My mom and I made this recipe last night, adapted from a recipe on Allrecipes, and it was sooooo delicious!  The best meatloaf I've ever had.  The recipe is incredibly easy, and took us no time at all to whip up.  I've made many meatloaf recipes, usually the ones with a ketchupy glaze on top, and I've been looking for the perfect one for a while.  Well..this is it.  It is not as sweet as most meat loaf recipes I've had, because it has a small amount of ketchup (compared to the amount of salt) and no brown sugar.  However, it has a richer, moister, saltier, cheesier, and buttery flavor...which I love.  It also makes fabulous meatloaf sandwiches for the next day.  I recommend serving this with mashed potatoes and veggies for a delicious, comfort-food-for-the-soul meal.

Ingredients:

1 slice of bread, torn in half

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup crushed buttery round crackers
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons steak sauce
• 
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the bread halves in one layer on the bottom of a 9x5 loaf pan (this soaks up any leftover grease form the meat).
3. Stir the ground beef, crushed crackers, Cheddar cheese, and onion soup mix in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk the eggs, ketchup, and steak sauce in a separate bowl until smooth. Mix the eggs into the meat until evenly combined, if the mixture seems too dry, add a little water. Press into the 9x5 inch loaf pan, on top of the bread slices.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the meatloaf reaches 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) and is no longer pink in the center, 45 to 60 minutes.  Discard the bread pieces that are cut out.